Draft apparatus.



PATENTBD PEB.'14,A1905.

J. G. BROWN. DRAFT APPARATUS.

APPLIOA'TION FILED JULY 8.1904.

- QLUISTITED'L` STATES Patented February 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

vJACOB Gf BROWN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

DRAFT APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,322, dated February 14, 19055.V Application filed July 8, 1904-.. Serial No. 215,757.

T0 all 'wh/0m] it nfl/cry concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB Gr. BROWN, a citi-l zen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and 'Improved Draft Apparatus, of which the following is a s'pecification.

My invention relates to draft apparatus for heavy wagons; and it consists in anew construction for neck-yokes, eveners, and whifHetrees; and the objects of my improvements are to provide an apparatus of this kind that shall be strong, light, durable, easily and cheaply constructed and in which any of the parts that should they7 happen to be broken can be easily replaced.. I attain these objects by the-construction shown in the accompanying drawings, in which'-- Figure 1 is a plan of an evener. Fig. 2 is across-section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-'section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an end view of this evener. Fig. 5 is an end view, and Fig. 6 an elevation, of a neckyoke. Fig. 7 is a plan of a whiiiietree.

Similar reference characters designate like parts throughout the drawings.

It has been customary to construct neckyokes, eveners, and whiflietrees of wood with metal wearing pieces; but as theY suitable kinds of wood are becoming scarce it has been found necessary to replacethem by like apparatus made of metal. As a rule these have been cumbersome and heavy.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows an evener which is composed of two rolled bars 1 and 2, preferably channels, but which may be of any other desirable form of rolled bars. -These channels'are placed face to face and are sepa# rated by the washers 3. Against the rear side of channel 2 fits a block 4, provided with an opening 5 to receive the draft-bolt. This block acts a compression member and is provided with a stud 6, which is threaded on its outer end and projects through holes in both of the channels 1 and 2 and by means of a nut 4on the end secures these channels together.. This block 4 is grooved in its outer end and is adapted to receive the` rods 8 and 9. The

yends of rod 8 are' upset and perforated and through,them, as well as through holes in the channels 1 and 2, pass the ends of the posts 10, which ends are likewise threaded and provided with nuts. The outer ends of the posts 10 are notched, and in these notches rests the rod 9.

The ends of this rod 9 are also upset and perf foi-ated, and through the perforations, as well as through holes in the channels 1 and 2, pass the round portions of the hooks 11. It will be seen that when this evener is put together, as shown in Fig. 1 acomplete truss is formed in which the bars 1 and 2 form the compression members and the rod 8 and9 the tension members, while the round parts of the hooks l1 l serve to secure the ends ofthe rods and channels securely together, and thelposts 10 and block 4 act as the vertical compression members of the truss. The connecting-links 12 and 13 of the whiflietrees are connected to the hooks 11 in the manner shown. To disconnect them, it is necessary to slack up the nuts on the ends of the bolt portions of the hooks 11.

The neck-yoke(shown in Fig. 6) is ofsimilar construction to the evener above described. The channels 1 and 2 are separated by similar washers 3, and the rods 8 and 9 are secured to these channels in asimilar wayand have the same functions. The postsV 10 are of the same construction as those shown in Fig. 1. In place ofthe hooks 11 bolts 14 are employed to connect the ends of the channels of the rod 9. As no draft-bolt is used, the block 4 is replaced by a post 15, having ashoulder to contact with-the channel 2, and then a round portion to project through holes in channels 1 and 2 and at its end provided with anut to secure the various parts together. The end of this post'15 is formed into a ring 16, which is rings 19.

The whiiiietree (shown in Fig. 7) is of rather lighter construction than the evener and neck# yoke above described. It is composed of the IOO channels by means of the pins 29.

two channels 21 and 22, the central compression member 23, which forms king-post of this truss, and thevtension member 24. This rod 24 has upset ends, which are provided with holes through which and through holes in the ends of the channels 21 and 22 the bolts 25 pass. The post 23 is provided with a nut on its end' and passes through holes in the channels 21 and 22. Washers 26 serve to separate channels. The outer end of the post 23 is formed similar to the outer end of the post l-that is, it is provided with a ring 27, which forms a saddle for the tension-rod 24 and is enlarged to receive the ring 13. This ring 13 is connected with a ring 12, (shown in Fig. 1,) which in turn engages the hook 11 at the end of the evener. It will be noticed that by turning the hook 11 vertically it can engage the ring 13 without the intervention of the ring 12. Between the channels 21 and 22 are the ringshaped ends of the hooks 28, which engage the ends of the tugs of the harness.- These hooks are prevented from sliding along between In each case here shown it will be noticed that a simple and complete truss is formed for the different parts of the drafta'pparatus. As the heaviest loads that can be placed upon Wagons can be easily predetermined, the strength of each one of these parts can be accurately calculated and all superfluous weight avoided. While I have shown these various parts of the draft apparatus as being constructed of channels and round rods, it is obvious that any other desirable form of rolled bar can be used and that the round rods may be replaced by those having any other desirable cross-section.

Various changes may be made by those skilled in the art to which this appertains l Having now explained my construction,

cure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a trussed draft apparatus, the combiwhat I claim as my invention, and desire to senation of a compression member comprising two rolled bars separated by washers, a central post projecting from the middle thereof and extending through said bars to secure them together, a tension member engaging the free end of said post,'auxiliary posts on each side of said middle post and adapted to secure the ends of said tension member to said compression member, a second tension member engaging the free ends of the middle and auxiliary post, bolts securing the ends of said second tension member to the ends of said compression member, and links passing between the rolled bars. i

2. In a trussed draft apparatus, the combination of a compression member comprising two channels placed face to face and separated by washers, a post projecting from said channels` and having an end passingthrough holes in the same and a nut on its outer end to secure said channels together, a tension -rod resting on said post and secured to the outer ends of said channels, links passing between said channels, and means to prevent lateral movement of said links.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB G. BROWN. In presence of- EDWARD N. PAGELSEN, EMMA PETERSEN. 

